Chapter 254: Snatching Food from the Mouths of the Two Oil Barons

Words : 1718 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

As soon as dawn broke, Wen Chao's phone wouldn't stop ringing with investors calling to inquire about Lu Liang's illness. At the hospital entrance and the lobby of the first-floor payment hall, there were many people obviously not family members of patients. Rumors spread that Lu Liang was staying in this hospital, everyone came to try their luck, hoping to get firsthand information. They didn't have the guts to go upstairs to disturb him, nor dared to ask about Lu Liang's condition, but they still had the guts to 'casually' inquire. "Mr. Lu, you should pay more attention to your diet and stabilize your daily routine, remember to eat less spicy food, and quit smoking and drinking..." Acute pneumonia wasn't a serious disease, a few IV drips the previous night had already brought down Lu Liang's high fever. Sёarch* The nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What remained was to take medication on time and slowly recuperate, under normal circumstances, he could recover in 7-10 days without any residual effects. Wen Chao made a mental note of the doctor's advice and indicated he would remind Lu Liang to take his medicine on time, after talking to the doctor. He walked to the bedside, crouched down, and asked softly, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Li just called." According to the original schedule, they were to go to the exhibition in Modu at ten in the morning to attend the NIO ES8 new car launch event. "Can I be discharged now?" Lu Liang muffled a cough with his hand, feeling itchy in his lungs whenever he spoke. "It is possible, but the hospital recommends that you stay for observation for 12 hours." "Come back later then." Perhaps due to his regular exercise, Lu Liang felt fairly well. Except for his limbs feeling weak and an uncontrollable urge to cough, which caused lung pain accompanied by thick phlegm. His mind was clearer than ever, feeling as if a lot of junk information was cleared, and his CPU was running faster. Unable to persuade him otherwise, Wen Chao asked the doctor again about the precautions needed for discharging now. Soon after, Lu Liang put on a mask and walked out of the hospital door under the escort of security personnel. As soon as he got into the car, he coughed violently and couldn't help exiting, "Change the car." His mind was clear, and his sense of smell was exceptionally sharp; there was a faint smell of smoke in the car that nauseated Lu Liang as soon as he smelled it. He got into the business Mercedes of the security personnel and after a moment said, "Let's go to the exhibition first." Business matters were urgent, and Lu Liang had neither the time nor the energy to deal with Su Wanyu's matter now. One thing at a time, there was the United States election tonight, he just couldn't spare the time. By past nine, Lu Liang arrived at the exhibition, and a large crowd of reporters with cameras, like sharks sensing blood. Seeing Lu Liang, the rumor of his critical injury and illness circulating online self-destructed. Li Bing rushed over, looking concerned, "Mr. Lu, you really must take care of yourself." Waking up to hear that Lu Liang was in a coma and hospitalized had made him feel like the sky was falling. Why fall ill just before the NIO new car launch, especially being captured in photos during hospitalization. If it was a minor illness, it would have been fine, but a serious one? The Xiao Peng G3 launch colliding with the Hongguang Mini would meet the same fate as the NIO ES8 launch. If something serious had happened, he wouldn't know whom to turn to replace Lu Liang's position for the financing after the launch. Fortunately, heaven had answered his prayers, allowing Lu Liang to safely come and attend the launch of the new car in the morning. "No worries," Lu Liang was sparing with his words, Wen Chao explained, "Mr. Li, Mr. Lu finds it difficult to speak at the moment." "Understood, understood." Known it was pneumonia, Li Bing quickly invited Lu Liang to rest in the lounge for a while. As long as Lu Liang showed up, even if he didn't say a word, just making an appearance was enough. Lu Liang was always trending; admitted to the hospital last night, and today attending the NIO new car launch. What good car was it that garnered his support so strongly, all filled with topics of discussion. Li Bing cleared out section one of the lounge for Lu Liang, making sure he wasn't disturbed. Lu Liang also picked up his phone, replying one by one to messages from friends and relatives from last night. His mind was clear, but it was just his illusion. Just earlier in the car, seeing his phone screen, Lu Liang felt very dizzy and had no intention to look. There weren't many messages on WeChat, just around ten people, after all, the incident was sudden and during the late night. Mostly were night owls like Little Wang or Liu Mingxuan waking up in the middle of the night to care for their baby: "If you're still alive, give a squeak?" "Squeak~" Lu Liang uniformly replied, thanking everyone for their concern. His gaze finally rested on two people—Li Manli and Su Wanyu—each of their last messages were sent at three and four in the morning, respectively. Li Manli initially sent a dozen voice messages, and eventually, she seemed to have reached the hospital, so she did not inquire further. "I'm okay now," Lu Liang replied to her. Li Manli almost instantly responded, "You scared the hell out of me." The chat interface kept showing "typing," and after a while, a voice message of fifty-something seconds came through. "I'm sorry..." she started talking about last night, about Su Wanyu chasing after her, and things Wen Chao did not know. "That woman, so elegant, so beautiful, and so smart." Li Manli felt a bitter sorrow, unable to hide her own insecurities. Su Wanyu was the type of girl everyone admired at first sight, beautiful and intelligent. Just like her class monitor during her senior year of high school—pretty, academically excellent, with a well-off family. Unlike her, with poor grades, working right after high school, naively letting herself be taken advantage of. Had it not been for her good fortune in meeting Lu Liang, she might have ended up like her former colleagues. Nightclubs had easily corrupted many people's moral compass; bartending and tips made her barely seven to eight thousand a month. But accompanying guests for drinks and tolerating occasional touches on the thigh, she could easily make a five-figure sum each month. And if one was willing to play even freer, a six-figure monthly salary wasn't too difficult to achieve. A colleague from early in the year had even bragged to her about being wealthy now. As the gap between them widened, they gradually lost contact. Until a couple of months ago, that colleague suddenly contacted her, asking to borrow money for an abortion. Li Manli transferred five thousand to her, then permanently blocked her. It was from that moment that she truly grasped how fortunate she was. "You're not bad yourself, you haven't slept all night. Get some rest early." Lu Liang turned his attention to Su Wanyu. At four in the morning, she sent a message with just a sad emoji of a yellow bean. Looking up through earlier messages, still from yesterday. "Have heard that the flu is rampant in Shenzhen, be sure to take care of yourself and drink plenty of water." "It's gotten colder in Modu, remember to wear more clothes when you come back." "Got some good news, I scored eighth in the whole school in the last joint exam, hehe~" "My tutor even wants to recommend me for an exchange in England next year, but I declined." "I was asked about my plans for the future, and I said I want to have two babies after graduation, then we'll see. I still remember her expression." "She almost pointed at my forehead and said, 'Six years in primary, three in junior high, three in high school, four in university, two for a master's... eighteen years of hard study, just to be a housewife...'" "But who cares, as long as I'm happy~" Su Wanyu's messages revealed her anticipation for the future, she knew Lu Liang was busy and not often responding, but that didn't stop her from cheerfully sharing snippets of her life every day. Suddenly a severe coughing fit echoed throughout the rest area. Lu Liang covered his throat, his eyes bloodshot, feeling like he was about to cough up his lungs. Wen Chao quickly passed him a cup of warm water: "Mr. Lu, have some water to ease it." Lu Liang looked somber, put away his phone, drank some water, closed his eyes, and seemed to fall asleep. Until Wen Chao reminded him that it was time for the press conference, and they needed to take their seats. Lu Liang nodded, arrived at the front row of the venue, half-asleep as he listened to Li Bing boasting onstage. The latest Lithium Iron Phosphate battery from Ningde Era, accelerating from zero to a hundred meters in 4.9 seconds, with a vehicle length over five meters, and a wheelbase over three meters. Constructed entirely from aluminum alloy body and chassis, standard equipment includes active air suspension and dual electric motors with all-wheel drive. "To address range anxiety, we plan to set up battery swap stations nationwide, offering an energy acquisition experience that surpasses refueling gasoline vehicles." With the battery swap plan announced, applause thundered and exclamations filled the venue, marvelling at NIO's bold move. If electric vehicles were widely accepted, NIO could secure a significant market share. The prospects of the battery swap project were absolutely imaginative, as it represented seizing food from the mouths of the oil giants, currently the best and relatively perfect solution to resolve range anxiety.

Chapter 254: Snatching Food from the Mouths of the Two Oil Barons

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